


Worry

by crofters_jam



Series: Freckles, Ant, Caps, and Skipper [1]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Gen, Jack Kelly is Good With Kids, The Refuge, and here it is, and u can pry that from my cold dead hands, it just be like that, its cause i love them, look... sometimes u get arrested, p much two of their origin stories, pretty much i wanted to write something for my ocs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 14:23:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17603000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crofters_jam/pseuds/crofters_jam
Summary: Winnie and Caps are just trying to find a job after their parents die, but of course, things don't always go exactly to plan.





	Worry

Winnie dashed down the street, tears threatening to spill down her face at any moment. Her little sister Isabelle, though everyone called her Caps, had her arms around her neck as the two ran through the streets of New York. Apparently, according to the police, if you look dirty and you’re hanging around outside a store for too long, you can get arrested. The two had just been trying to find work, and hopefully a place to sleep, after their parents died. Before they knew it, Winnie had scooped up Caps and the two were booking it down the road.

Winnie felt Caps fall out of her arms before she felt the fist gripping her hair. She let out a shout as she was yanked backward with no warning. Arms wrapped around her body and she screamed as she tried to struggle her way out. She glanced up and saw Caps staring at her, panic in her eyes.

“Run!” Winnie screamed at her, hoping that she would get the message. Winnie wasn’t getting out of this, but Caps still could. She watched as Caps slowly turned around before giving Winnie one last glance and sprinting down the street.

\---

Caps was terrified. She knew that the moment she ran away, there would be no turning back. But the look in her sister’s eyes, that pleading feeling, that was what made her run. She wasn’t sure where she was going. She just kept running and running, afraid and unsure. Until she finally bumped into someone, sending them both sprawling across the concrete.

The girl sat up in a panic, staring at the older boy she had knocked over. He was dressed raggedly, in a blue shirt with a vest thrown over it and a cap sat on his head. He looked up seemingly annoyed, and Caps rushed to apologize.

“I’m- I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to- I was just trying-,” Caps struggled over her words but stopped when she saw the boys face. His expression had flickered from annoyed to concerned and he cautiously made his way toward her.

“Hey, hey. It’s alright. What’s a kid like you doin’ out ‘ere all by yourself?” the boy asked. Caps slowly stood up, still ready to run at any moment. “Were ya runnin’ from the bulls?”

The boy must’ve seen the look on Caps’ face because he quickly continued.

“Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna turn you’se in. Most of the people I know have been in that situation.”

“They got my sister,” Caps blurted out. She was scared and all alone for the first time in her life.

“Oh, geez, kid, I’m sorry. What’s yer name?”

“People call me Caps,” she said, still slightly uncomfortable.

“Caps, huh? Well I’m Jack. Ya need a place to sleep tonight?”

Caps nodded quickly, ready to get off the streets.

“Well, c’mon. I’m sure the others would be happy to ‘ave ya.”

\---

When Winnie was a little girl, she had been walking down the street with her mother. The tall building with bars on the window had caused her to stop. Before she had time to ask about it, her mother had grabbed her hand and pulled her down the street, and the building was out of sight. Now, sitting with two other kids on a cold metal bed in the Refuge, she wished she had never seen the building before in her life. It wasn’t until about two weeks into her stay, once the long cut on her leg finally began to heal, that someone had climbed the fire escape to see her. When one of the other kids had called her over from the window, she hadn’t known what to expect. It was a boy, in a sleeveless shirt and suspenders with a slingshot tucked in his pocket.

“Yes?” Winnie asked. She wasn’t in much of a mood for conversation, considering the fact that she was in jail.

“Yer sister sent me,” the boy said. He looked at her, searching for a sign of recognition. He got one as Winnie leapt forward and gripped at the bars.

“Is she alright? What happened?” Winnie nearly yelled. She barely remembered to keep her voice down as to not alert anyone.

“She’s alright. She’s a newsie now, been doin’ great. She’s real worried ‘bout you, though,” the boy said.

Winnie let out a sigh of relief.

“I’m surprised Isabelle hasn’t gotten into any trouble in that time.”

She heard the boy snicker.

“What?” Winnie asked. Her eyebrows bunched together, trying to understand what was so funny.

“Well, Caps never told us her real name was Isabelle,” he said. Winnie let out a quiet laugh too.

“Anyway, I’m Winnie.” She stuck out her hand through the bars and felt the boy shake it.

“Finch. I’ll try ta check in on ya sometimes,” Finch said. He let go of her hand and moved to head down the fire escape.

“Hey Finch?” Winnie called out after him. Finch turned around, one eyebrow raised. “Take care of Caps for me.”

Finch gave her a nod before continuing down the fire escape and off into the night.

\---

Three months later, and Winnie was limping down the street. She was mostly fine, save for some cuts and scratches. Her foot had been hurting a lot since that guard had stepped on it, but she was sure she could manage. The only thing she couldn’t manage was finding Caps, mostly due to the fact that no newsie would dare sell close to the refuge. Finch had continued to visit, bringing news between Caps and Winnie, and he said that most of them had been in there at one point or another.

So there were no newsies in sight, which meant that Winnie had no idea where she was going. After what felt like days, but in reality was probably only in hour, she finally heard a shout from a newsie trying to hawk a paper.

“Extra! Billionaire dies in horrific accident! You heard it here!”

Winnie practically dashed around the corner, well, as best she could, before finally spotting a newsie down the street. She rushed over to him, and he held out a paper, clearly thinking she was a customer.

“That’ll be a-”

Winnie cut him off by gripping his shoulders and looking right at him.

“Do you know a newsie named Caps?” The boy shook his head. “Isabelle? Finch?”

He shook his head again, and Winnie tried to think of the other newsies Finch had told her about. This kid must be pretty knew, considering that Finch had been a newsie for a long time.

“Henry? Elmer? Race?” At that one the boy nodded and Winnie let out a huge sigh of relief.

“I need you to take me to him, please,” Winnie said. “I don’t have any money, but next chance I get I’ll buy a couple papers.”

“No need. I can tell you where he is, and you aren’t going to find him by the end of today. He sells in Brooklyn.” Winnie wanted to cry. “But, the lodging house is just a few blocks down. Someone’s bound to show up there eventually.”

Winnie smiled and thanked the boy before heading back down the street. Her foot had begun hurting more and more, and a few blocks felt more like a few miles. Eventually, she practically collapsed in front of the boarding house, leaning against the wall. It had to be what, ten in the morning? Hopefully, someone would stop by the house soon for lunch and point her in the right direction.

Sure enough, within the hour she saw a group of newsies walking towards a restaurant across the square. She stood up and walked over to them, her foot ached and she was dizzy, but she was more determined then she’d ever been in her life. One of the newsies noticed her and turned to face her just as she felt her vision give way.

\---

When Winnie came to, she was lying in a bed that was much more comfortable than the one at the Refuge. While it wasn’t five star, it was better than she’d felt in months. She slowly opened her eyes to greet the moonlight before sitting up with a start. Where the hell was she?

Winnie tried to climb out of the bed but felt her foot give way beneath her. She let out a shout as she fell, effectively waking up the boy next to her. He sat up and Winnie recognized him as Finch.

“Finch?”

“Hey, Winnie, you’re alright. You’re back in the lodging house. Caps is already asleep, you can see her in the morning. Go back to sleep, you need it.”

Winnie sighed but stood up, putting her weight onto her uninjured foot before collapsing back into the bed and letting darkness take her once more.

\---

When Winnie woke up the second time, it was to someone shaking her.

“Winnie? Winnie, wake up!”

Winnie slowly opened her eyes, looking up at the person. She was sitting up for a second, her arms thrown around her little sister.

“Caps! Thank god!” Winnie felt the smaller girl let out a sob and the two just held each other, grateful to be back in each other's’ arms again.

The next day, Winnie was up and out of bed, ready to sell. She knew she would be a newsie from the minute she stepped out of the Refuge. Besides, it was clear that Caps had a family here, and after losing their last one, Winnie would never take that away from her. 

When Winnie got to the front of the line, the man that the others called “Weasel” was staring her down.

“Too many new kids, I swear I can’t keep track of ‘em these days. What’s your name, freckles?” Winnie grimaced. The freckles that splattered her skin stood out in the harsh sun.

“It ain’t none of your business,” Winnie clipped back. She put down the quarter finch had lent her, grabbing her papers and slinging the bag over her shoulder before moving along. Caps ran up behind her, her own papers in her bag.

“Dang, I never knew you to be that sensitive, ‘freckles’,” Caps teased her with a smile.

“Oh shut your mouth, Isabelle,” Winnie threw back.

But of course, with the newsies, a nickname sticks. Upon walking into Jacobi’s for lunch, Caps had shown her the way, she was greeted with shouts of hello, peppered with the name Freckles.

She figured she may as well accept it. After all, if she was gonna be out here for a while, it didn’t hurt to feel wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all liked that?? I'm doing my best,,, so yeah meet Freckles and Caps.


End file.
